Rockly Bay Research Project: Archaeology of a Naval Battle 2012 Field Season

Author(s): Kroum N. Batchvarov

Year: 2013

Summary

In 1677, a French squadron attempted to wrestle control of Tobago from the Dutch West Indies Company. The crucial battle of Rockly Bay was one of the largest fought in the Caribbean in the 1600s. In the 1990s, Mr. Wes Hall of Mid-Atlantic Technologies, LLC, located shipwrecks tentatively associated with that battle. Based on archival data and the known positions of the ships in the battle line, it is likely that these are some of the Dutch ships.

The University of Connecticut and the Institute of Nautical Archaeology assisted by Mr. Hall and in collaboration with the Tobago House of Assembly, inaugurated a long-term research program in Rockly Bay, Tobago. During the 2012 season five shipwrecks and associated material were identified. As result of maritime traffic, cultural material is now exposed on the bottom and subjected to destruction, requiring an archaeological rescue operation. 

Cite this Record

Rockly Bay Research Project: Archaeology of a Naval Battle 2012 Field Season. Kroum N. Batchvarov. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Leicester, England, U.K. 2013 ( tDAR id: 428631)

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Keywords

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 339